Studies in the Psalms - Psalm 83

Psalm 83 is a prayer. It is one of the imprecatory prayers in which the psalmist is praying for God to respond to those who simply hate God and are seeking to harm His people.

Psalm 83:1-3

O God, do not remain quiet; Do not be silent and, O God, do not be still.  For behold, Your enemies make an uproar, And those who hate You have exalted themselves.  They make shrewd plans against Your people, And conspire together against Your treasured ones.

In this psalm, it is Israel that is their target. But God’s church today is also under the same type of attack and throughout the world many who gather to worship God are still being persecuted and killed.

Psalm 83:13-15
O my God, make them like the whirling dust, Like chaff before the wind.  Like fire that burns the forest And like a flame that sets the mountains on fire,  So pursue them with Your tempest And terrify them with Your storm.

Jesus was clear, we are to love our enemies and we are to pray for them.

Matthew 5:43-45
"You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.'  "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Even in the psalmist’s cry here for God to come after the enemy, notice what the psalmist seeks.

Psalm 83:16
Fill their faces with dishonor, That they may seek Your name, O LORD.

As long as a man has breath, there is still hope for his salvation. The first purpose of this prayer is that the enemy would learn from the judgments against him on this earth and then seek God’s good name.

Psalm 83:17-18
Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever, And let them be humiliated and perish,  That they may know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, Are the Most High over all the earth.

But to those who shall never seek God, then may God take them away by His righteous nature so that God alone, is exalted as the Most High in all the earth.

Maybe this psalm confuses you and at this point in your faith you have yet to reconcile God’s judgment with His love and grace. If so at least continue to pray this; That they may know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, Are the Most High over all the earth.

Pray that God be glorified in and all over the earth. It’s a simple prayer and He is worthy of it.